You might be aware that GPU prices have skyrocketed in recent months. This is due in large part to the rise of cryptocurrencies, to which there are many. Bitcoin is the first and most popular one, but what is Bitcoin? We're here to demystify the topic for you. While Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are incredibly deep and complex topics, in this beginner's guide, we'll not only explain what Bitcoin is, but we'll also dive into how it's created, discuss its use-cases, clear up misconceptions, and much more. Here's everything you should know about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency. You can send and receive it to an individual via a peer-to-peer payment system anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. You can also purchase goods with it among several online sites and physical stores. Its decentralized design means that it isn't controlled by any one individual, central bank, company, or country. In short, Bitcoin is an open-source international currency.
Who invented Bitcoin? Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the technical whitepaper to Bitcoin in 2008 and the first Bitcoin was produced the following year. It's unclear who Nakamoto is, however, and there are rumors that the alias may represent more than one person.
What is the blockchain? Bitcoins are produced, or "mined", by individuals with high-end computers that solve encrypted math equations over a distributed online database called the blockchain. Whenever a Bitcoin transaction takes place, that data is encrypted and sent across the network for these mining computers to verify. They do so by decrypting the data. This process is known as cryptography and forms the backbone of security for Bitcoin (more on security later).
Once the data has been decrypted, they are publicly stored in one megabyte blocks on the blockchain network. As an added security measure, these blocks are formed every 10 minutes and can not be altered. New transactions are stored on subsequent blocks, which link up to the old blocks in a chronological chain. The blockchain thus acts as a public ledger of Bitcoin transaction history.
Every miner keeps an up-to-date record of the blockchain, which is currently over 157GB, and gets rewarded with a small amount of Bitcoin for doing so.
Can Bitcoin be hacked? The way the blockchain is designed prevents Bitcoins from being spent again after they've already been used. The blockchain also makes it very difficult to create new Bitcoins out of thin air. In conjunction with the cryptographic measures outlined above, the Bitcoin blockchain is based on a consensus proof-of-work model. This means that not only do mining computers have to provide answers to the aforementioned encrypted equations, but in order for data to be added to the blockchain, a majority of the mining computers on the network have to agree that the computations were correct. To overcome this, an attacker would effectively have to hack the majority of computers on the network (to which there are hundreds across the world) at the same time while providing mathematical proof of work. This makes Bitcoin incredibly hard to hack. Security is arguably the cryptocurrency's greatest asset. To date, Bitcoin has not been hacked.
Some exchanges that act as an online meeting grounds for buyers and sellers of cryptocurrency have been hacked, however. The Mt. Gox attack is the most notable one. In 2014, 850,000 Bitcoins were stolen from the Japan-based exchange. Users can mitigate their risk by taking their assets off of these exchanges and storing them in cryptocurrency wallets.
How do cryptocurrency wallets work? There are two major types of cryptocurrency wallets. Perhaps the most accessible are digital wallets that act as an online address for you to store the keys to your Bitcoins/cryptocurrencies. USB-based hardware wallets allow you to store your keys offline and are generally deemed more secure as a result.
One common misconception is that these wallets store your Bitcoins/cryptocurrencies, but they only store the keys (passcodes) that allow you to open up your Bitcoins on the blockchain network so you could transfer them elsewhere.
How much is Bitcoin right now? In relation to the US dollar, the current value of Bitcoin is:
Can you exchange Bitcoin back to your local fiat currency (Dollars, Pounds, Euros, etc.)? Yes. Similar to purchasing stocks from investment banks online, many cryptocurrency exchanges allow you to purchase Bitcoin for fiat and vice versa.
What determines the price of Bitcoin? Similar to stocks, the price of Bitcoin is determined by consumer trust. This is manifested by how much people are willing to invest in the currency.
Do you have to buy a whole Bitcoin? No. As a matter of fact, Bitcoins are divisible up to eight decimal places. The smallest denomination (.00000001 Bitcoin) is called a Satoshi.
How many Bitcoin are there? Currently, there are over 16.8 million Bitcoins. Nakamoto designed Bitcoin to max out at 21 million by the year 2140. Beyond then, no Bitcoins will be mined or created. The cap was implemented to prevent currency inflation. Beyond 2140, miners will reap transaction fees for maintaining the Bitcoin blockchain.
What is an altcoin? Altcoins are alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin. Like Bitcoin, most of them are designed around decentralized blockchain technologies that typically involve miners working together on a network. Currently, there are over 1,000 altcoins. Many of them are attempting to offer unique use-cases. Ethereum, for instance, has its own unique blockchain that enables "smart contracts."
Smart contracts attempt to open up new avenues for conditional automations where trust is a key variable. For instance, in a future where self-driving cars can deliver packages to your house, a smart contract coupled with the blockchain could ensure that you won't be charged until the package has arrived at your house. This is a transaction that can occur without any human interaction.
Some altcoins are tying blockchain technologies to radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags so people can scan a product with their smartphone to validate the authenticity of moving goods in markets with high amounts of counterfeiting.
Proponents assert that there are many use-cases for blockchain technologies. One general appeal of altcoins is that many of them are attempting to better facilitate automation in business and between emerging smart devices.
Can I use my gaming PC to mine Bitcoin? You used to be able to mine Bitcoin with gaming GPUs, but Nakamoto designed Bitcoin to be harder to mine over time. This was done to mimic the scarcity and difficulty of mining gold. As such, application-specific integrated circuit chips (ASICs) were designed specifically to mine Bitcoin. You can use modern gaming graphics cards to mine altcoins, however. This is the reason why GPU prices have skyrocketed in recent months.
Why are GPUs used to mine cryptocurrency? Because mining cryptocurrency involves solving numerous encrypted equations, GPUs with their highly parallel architecture are inherently very efficient at powering through these computations. While the best modern consumer CPUs may have 4, 8, or even 16 cores to do the job, modern GPUs have hundreds of compute cores working in parallel. This makes them orders of magnitudes more effective.
How can I use my gaming PC to mine cryptocurrency? To mine cryptocurrency, you'll first need to set up a cryptocurrency wallet so you can deposit your earnings.
The easiest way for beginners to start mining is to join a crypto-mining marketplace. Nicehash is the largest one, and the company makes its money by taking a cut of mined coins. Nicehash also offers a benchmark that suggests what your specific PC should mine.
How successful a PC is at mining is largely determined by the speed at which it can compute an operation in the Bitcoin code. This is known as the hash rate and is measured in megahashes per second. Since mining cryptocurrency is very GPU-intensive, it can consume a lot of power. Thus, the ideal balance is to maximize your hash rate while minimizing power consumption.
Many retail outlets are selling six pack of GPUs for cryptocurrency mining. What are some of the risks to mining? Cryptocurrency mining can significantly raise your power bill and be detrimental to your hardware, since you would have to run them under heavy workloads for long periods of time. This can also cause heating issues. Furthermore, while mining a particular altcoin may be profitable one day, if the coin takes a financial crash the next, you could potentially lose money. Finally, while joining a crypto-mining marketplace is the easiest way to start mining, like exchanges, these marketplaces act as centralized hubs for cryptocurrency, and are more susceptible to hacks. NiceHash, in particular, was hacked towards the tail end of 2017 when 4,000 Bitcoins were stolen.
What are the best GPUs to mine cryptocurrency? This will vary depending on the altcoins you want to mine, but popular GPUs for mining on Nvidia's side at the moment include the Titan X, GTX 1080 Ti, and GTX 1070. On AMD's side, current popular picks include the RX 580, RX 570, RX Vega 64, and RX Vega 56. Many miners will also set up rigs with multiple GPUs working in parallel to bolster hash rates.
Where can you spend Bitcoin? There are many companies that accept Bitcoin. Some notable ones include Overstock.com, Expedia, and Newegg. More can be found here.
Where can I buy Bitcoin? The most common way is to purchase them from online exchanges.
What obstacles does Bitcoin face? The Bitcoin market is highly speculative and volatile. Regulations and tax rules are also currently in a state of flux. In addition, there is concern that certain countries may attempt to ban cryptocurrencies.
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March is right around the corner, and with it comes a new selection of titles for Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft is expanding its game subscription service with eight more games next month, including Rare's highly anticipated pirate adventure, Sea of Thieves.
The open-world pirate game makes its Xbox One and PC debut next month, and it serves as the flagship title for Microsoft's new initiative to bring all of its future first-party Xbox One exclusives to Game Pass at launch. Subscribers will be able to play Sea of Thieves beginning March 20, the same day that it releases in retail and digital stores.
Before Sea of Thieves arrives on the service, Game Pass subscribers will get access to seven more titles starting March 1, including Rise of the Tomb Raider, Super Lucky's Tale, Resident Evil Revelations 2, Oxenfree, and the classic Sonic game, Sonic CD. You can take a look at all of March's new Xbox Game Pass titles below.
Xbox Game Pass is a Netflix-style service for Xbox One. It features a library of more than 100 of Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles, with a new batch arriving to the service every month. A Game Pass subscription costs $10 per month, but those who are curious about sampling the service can sign up for a 14-day free trial. You can see the full list of Xbox Game Pass titles here.
New Xbox Game Pass Games in March 2018
March 1
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Super Lucky's Tale
Resident Evil Revelations 2
Oxenfree
Sonic CD
The Final Station
Euro Fishing
March 20
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A new week means a slew of new arrivals on Netflix. This week, though, brings even more titles than usual. With the arrival of March, tons of new movies, TV shows, and originals are all getting added to the service, giving you plenty of material to binge this week.
Among the movies being added this week are the two original Ghostbusters films, the Cruel Intentions trilogy--yes, a trilogy--300, and Jackass: Number Two. Additionally, Moon, the first film from Mute director Duncan Jones, will become available to stream on March 1. Other titles arriving include Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Am Number Four, Revolutionary Road, and Adventureland.
When it comes to originals, Girls Incarcerated, B: The Beginning, and 21 Thunder will all debut this week. For Voltron fans, Netflix will also premiere the fifth season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, which consists of six episodes.
You can take a look at everything coming to Netflix this week below. After that, check out everything arriving on and leaving the service in March--as well as Hulu and Amazon Prime Video's offerings.
February 26
El Vato: Season 2
Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards
People You May Know
Sin Senos sí Hay Paraíso: Season 2
Winnie
February 27
Derren Brown: The Push (Netflix Original)
Marlon Wayans: Woke-ish (Netflix Original)
March 1
300
21 Thunder: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
2307: Winter's Dream
Adel Karam: Live from Beirut (Netflix Original)
Adventureland
Algo Muy Gordo
Alpha and Omega
Battle Drone
Beerfest
Casino
Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions 2
Cruel Intentions 3
Deathgrip
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters 2
Gridiron Gang
Guess Who
Hostage
I Am Number Four
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Jackass: Number Two
Land Gold Women
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Eighteenth Year
Martian Child
Moon
People Like Us
Revolutionary Road
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild
The Brothers Grimm
The Bucket List
The Descent
The Descent: Part 2
The Experiment
The Fifth Estate
The Gift
The Lazarus Project
True to the Game
Untraceable
Up in the Air
Wet Hot American Summer
Women at War 1939-1945
March 2
B: The Beginning: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Flint Town: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Girls Incarcerated: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Les Affamés (Netflix Original)
Malena Pichot: Estupidez compleja (Netflix Original)
Natalia Valdebenito: El Especial (Netflix Original)
Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 5 (Netflix Original)
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PC owners eager to finally get their hands on Final Fantasy XV will have an opportunity to try out the game today. As promised, Square Enix will release a demo of the upcoming Windows Edition that offers a taste of the full experience.
The demo will be available through several different platforms--you'll be able to download it from Steam, Origin, and the Microsoft Store. As of this writing, the demo has not yet gone live, but we'll report back once it's available. A download size has not been announced. [Update: The demo is out now and weighs in at 21 GB, and the game's 4K textures are included by default. You can grab it on Steam, Origin, or the Microsoft Store.]
Just how much content is available in the demo is unclear. Square Enix said it consists of the tutorial and the "opening main quests," but just how many are included was not shared. Regardless, it should give you a sense of the game's combat and, perhaps more importantly, provide an ideal method for testing how well it runs on your computer. If you're interested in benchmarking, Square Enix has already released a tool for Final Fantasy XV to let you do just that.
Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition releases on March 6. It consists of the base game and its various DLC expansions, including those themed around each of your party members and the one adding the Comrades multiplayer mode. Additionally, if you purchase the game by May 1, you'll be entitled to Half-Life/Final Fantasy XV crossover content that lets you dress up as Gordon Freeman, complete with crowbar.
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Another week has gone by, and that means there is new Monster Hunter World content now available on both PS4 and Xbox One. While the most exciting thing going on right now is limited to PS4, there's something to occupy your time right now regardless of your platform.
PS4 players with a Street Fighter V save file on their hard drive still have early access to a special challenge quest called Down the Dark, Muddy Path. The actual particulars of what you're doing aren't exciting--it's an Arena where you hunt a Barroth--but the rewards include the materials to craft the armor based on Street Fighter's Ryu. Eventually, everyone on PS4 and Xbox One will have access to this quest and the Ryu gear, plus the Sakura-inspired gear still to come. For more on what to expect if you're eligible now, check out our guide on how to unlock Monster Hunter World's Ryu armor. You can see how it looks below--it literally transforms you into Ryu.
In terms of Limited Bounties, there's the usual assortment of additions. You'll need to hunt three bird wyvern-class monsters for one, hunt four Anjanath for another, and slay five tempered monsters for the third. These each offer their own set of rewards comprised of varying amounts of research points, armor spheres, and trade-in items (which are sold for zenny). A fourth limited bounty gives you even more of these rewards if you're able to complete the other three before these bounties reset on March 1/2 (depending on your platform).
There are also a handful of new event quests to take part in. Two of these (Ya-Ku With That? and The Poison Posse) are fairly mundane low-rank quests, asking you to hunt two and three monsters, respectively. Wildspire Bolero is a high-rank, seven-star quest that tasks you with hunting five monsters--including a Diablos, who proves difficult for many players--in under 50 minutes. There's also Snow & Cherry Blossoms, a nine-star quest to hunt a tempered Legiana and Pink Rathian. This also has a time limit of 50 minutes but has the highest Hunter Rank requirement (30) of any event quest so far.
Finally, you still have some time left to complete the current challenge quest, excitingly titled Challenge Quest 1: Intermediate. As before, this places restrictions on the particular weapon types you're able to use, limiting you to those that fall under the umbrella of Sword & Shield, Hunting Horn, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, or Light Bowgun.
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The most memorable segment of Sunday's WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view wasn't the women's Chamber match (which was fantastic) or the men's Chamber match (which was fun, but predictable). Instead, what everyone is talking about this morning is Ronda Rousey's WWE contract signing, which started typically but ended in internet-breaking chaos.
When Rousey made her first WWE appearance at January's Royal Rumble PPV, she took some flack for debuting immediately after the first women's Rumble match, thereby taking some thunder out of Asuka's historic victory. Rousey then spent several awkward minutes pointing at the WrestleMania sign, which became a meme for weeks afterwards. It was petty criticism, but there was no mistaking that the Rousey backlash had begun, from fans who thought that her appearance was an overbaked publicity ploy.
Sunday evening's contract signing segment at WWE Elimination Chamber had to refute this negative conception and accomplish three things:
To show Rousey could meld well into WWE's outsized world.
To show Rousey was taking her professional wrestling career seriously
To quell the rising backlash and get Rousey over as a babyface (hero)
By accomplishing these things, WWE could get the die-hard fans invested. After WrestleMania and once the shock and novelty wear off, Rousey will need them on her side, assuming that she wants a long WWE career.
WWE planted the seeds for this 'legitimizing' narrative on last Monday's Raw, when they released footage of Ronda Rousey training for her debut. They posted it on social media the same day, and they replayed the footage during Elimination Chamber, directly prior to her contract signing.
It's a sizzle reel with lots of cuts and close-ups, but it accomplishes its purpose--it shows that Rousey is training explicitly for in-ring performance. It appears that she's going for a blended style between scripted WWE sports entertainment and legitimate MMA, similar to what Brock Lesnar and Sonya Deville do.
When Rousey finally hit the ring Sunday evening, she had a disarming, sheepish smile on her face, and she received an enthusiastic, though mixed reaction from the crowd. She didn't have a particularly magnetic stage presence. And things got worse during her first promo. She seemed very nervous--her thoughts meandered a bit as she stumbled over her words, and the crowd's competing cheers and boos threw her off focus.
She said the right things. She wanted no special treatment, and she loved WWE (we later found out on Raw Talk that she changed in the same locker room with the rest of the women). She paid tribute to her inspiration, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. But her delivery of that message needed polish.
Then things got interesting. Near the end of the contract signing, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle spilled the beans, claiming that Stephanie referred to Rousey as "washed up" backstage. Some context: Rousey had capped her UFC career with two lopsided losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. And rather than ignoring the elephant in the room, WWE addressed it head-on. It was a perfect WWE storyline twist, leaving enough real-life events in the script so that fans could suspend their disbelief.
Instantly, Rousey's mood flipped like a switch. She took on a death scowl, and she backed Stephanie against the ropes. Her charisma and star presence, which was absent at the beginning of the segment, was now terrifyingly present.
And then, Rousey put Triple H through a table. Stephanie slapped Rousey across the face. And a red-eyed Rousey fixed her with a glare so hard that Stephanie went scurrying out of the ring. The crowd, now unified, cheered as Rousey signed her WWE contract, threw it on Triple H's body, and sauntered from the ring.
What can WWE learn from this segment? First, that Rousey, like Lesnar, is a purely physical storyteller. She may one day gain the mic skills to carry a feud, but that is not this day, and those skills will not materialize overnight. She needs to keep her words tightly scripted and to a bare minimum. Either that, or pair her with Paul Heyman--who will then have two 'legitimate' fighters under his wing--to do the talking for her.
Second, Rousey needs to stay angry. When she was smiling and laughing during her initial promo, the audience disconnected from her. But that was true in UFC too; Rousey's enduring appeal was based in her physical dominance, her trash talk, and her killer, take-no-prisoners attitude; oftentimes, she wouldn't even touch gloves with her opponents before fights. She was, in other words, willing to play the heel. Now that Rousey knows Stephanie is out to get her, fans shouldn't see Rousey's happy side again until after WrestleMania. She has a game face that could turn an opponent to stone, and she needs to use it more often.
Third, let Rousey show off more moves in the ring. Fans are excited, and they're going to tune in to Raw wanting to see more. Give them little teasers, even if they don't get a full, worked match. Let her do a lariat, chop someone in the corner, or put a Piper-esque sleeper hold on a foe. Keep things nice and simple. By performing basic, but painful-looking moves, she can look dangerous without being exposed as a beginner.
Based on last night's booking, a Triple H & Stephanie McMahon versus Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey mixed tag match appears to be in the cards for WrestleMania 34. And last night's messy contract signing was an excellent start towards building that feud. It's become intriguing. Now, WWE must make it must-see.
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The Total War series continues to go strong after nearly 20 years, but it didn't start out as a no-brainer success story. The debut title, Shogun: Total War, was released in 2000 by Creative Assembly, a developer that was not exactly known for its experience with the strategy genre.
Prior to Shogun's release, many of the studio's previous titles had been based on rugby and cricket. And while the past two decades have seen it try its hands at some different types of games--it developed 2014 horror game Alien: Isolation, for instance--it has almost exclusively focused on strategy games with Total War in the title.
In the video above, we dive into the history of the Total War series, which now consists of more than a dozen games. We look primarily at the core entries in the series, which have often been based on historical settings--although recent years have also brought Warhammer-inspired entries, which we also explore. Although the games share a familiar underpinning, Creative Assembly has managed to introduce wrinkles to keep the series fresh across so many titles, thanks in part to shifting between radically different settings.
Things aren't slowing down for Total War in the near future by any means. Following Warhammer II's release last year, Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is due out in April. Beyond that, there's the next big historical entry, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and the free-to-play spin-off Total War: Arena. And while it has not yet been announced, Creative Assembly has not been shy about making it clear that its Warhammer games are viewed as a trilogy.
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There's a moment in Kingdom Come: Deliverance where you break into someone’s house to steal a ring as part of quest for a group of miller’s that, it turns out, are secretly an organization of thieves. We're left thinking, “Wow, this really is a lot like an Elder Scrolls game.” Not in a bad way either. While Bethesda’s series of open world RPGs have been influential, no one’s really tried to straight up make something so close to an Elder Scrolls game. To its credit, for all the parallels in design and visuals, Kingdom Come feels like a vastly different experience from an Elder Scrolls title.
In the video above, GameSpot's own Jean-Luc Seipke talks about how these two games can feel so different despite being so similar, and how Bethesda could actually learn a thing or two from Kingdom Come. While multiple Elder Scrolls games are referenced, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is primarily used due to the visual similarities and also because it's Jean-Luc's personal favorite.
Being a game built with real world history in mind, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is immediately different from the fantasy-based world of Oblivion. Practically everything the game does is meant to simulate and re-imagine medieval Bohemia, which means worrying about things like needing to bathe regularly, managing injuries, and eating food before it spoils.
This makes buying food at a shop or drink at the tavern important because they serve a purpose and are essential for survival. Compare this to Oblivion where food does have small effects but isn't generally really useful on its own, and is better served as ingredients in a potion. You never need to stock up on carrots before making a long trek to the next town, which becomes second nature in Kingdom Come. In fact a lot of objects in Oblivion don’t really have much of a gameplay benefit. As a result, taverns and markets end up being window dressing to flesh out the world. Meanwhile every shop in Kingdom Come feels important because they serve as a marketplace for the stuff you need to survive an average day, let alone an action-packed one. The same goes for sleeping; in Oblivion you only need to sleep in order to level up and any bed will do. You’ll also recover all your health but the same thing can be accomplished by simply waiting an hour. The only way to regain health in Kingdom Come is to sleep it off or use consumable items.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (left), Kingdom Come: Deliverance (right)
Beds also are arguably Kingdom Come's most contentious feature, as they also function as the save system. There are no autosaves outside of certain quest moments, and you can only manually save by sleeping in a bed you own or by purchasing expensive bottles of Savior Schnapps. It's a radically different approach to Oblivion’s save-anywhere-anytime system, and results in two different experiences. In Kingdom Come, saving some poor villager being accosted on the road might not be worth the risk if you die and lose an hour of progress. You’re forced to think about every choice you make and what you end up choosing feels more important because of this. This is rarely the case in Oblivion where you can quickly save and load at any time to retry unlocking a door as many times as you want. Don’t take this as me saying that being able to save at anytime is bad or anything; after all Oblivion doesn’t want you to get stuck or lose hours or progress, it wants you to go on an adventure. Right from the beginning of the game you're able to go wherever you want and find a fun quest to engage in with no worries about save limitations or not having enough food. Kingdom Come simply prefers a more rigorous approach.
And the advantage of Kingdom Come is that it forces you to live in its world and roleplay. When you’re making a long trek you need to make sure you've packed enough food and are well rested. And when it's starting to get dark and you're low on energy, there is a sense of relief when you see that inn on the side of the road. In Oblivion, you'd stop at an Inn to fulfill the desire to roleplay or because there's probably a cool quest to get.
Neither approach is inherently right or wrong, but Kingdom Come is aiming to take familiar scenarios and make them more impactful. Take, for example, the Thieves Guild in Oblivion and Kingdom Come’s equivalent. In Oblivion, you join the Thieves Guild not out of any real desire for money or financial reasons; you don’t really need it. You join because it's a fun quest narrative where you go around stealing a bunch of stuff. The opening hours of Kingdom Come however leave you with little beyond the clothes on your back. Money is necessary to access food and other important items needed to stay alive, so when presented with the faster but more dangerous option of becoming a thief, you take it. The game's systems make a life of crime an appealing means of survival.
That isn’t to say Kingdom Come is perfect. Its save system, most notably, can be really frustrating when things go bad. Developer Warhorse Studios seem to be backpedaling on it a bit in an upcoming patch by letting you save when you quit, which is a decent compromise. There's also the lockpicking and pickpocketing minigames that just don’t seem to work consistently, which is also frustrating and exacerbated by the save system. But again, Warhorse said it'll address this.
And there are things that Oblivion does much better, such as the playable character. Your character is given the bare bones setup of being in jail but afterward, you're free to come up with the backstory and personality you desire. This works well since there aren't any voiced lines and the dialogue options are minimal, with very little personality, the idea being that you’ll fill in that personality yourself. The ability to create your own person to be the avatar in your roleplay wonderfully meshes with the freedom-based design of Oblivion. Kingdom Come’s approach is closer to The Witcher, with protagonist Henry having a predetermined personality, which ends up clashing with the rest of the game's do-anything style. Henry may talk about how much he respects honor and appalls thievery, but sometimes it's right after instantly killing a random NPC and ransacking their home. There's a constant dissonance between what what Henry says and what you want Henry to do, a problem Bethesda also faced with Fallout 4’s protagonist.
So it's pretty clear that Kingdom Come's more hardcore roleplaying aspects have won me over. However, that's not to say the next Elder Scrolls needs to be a hardcore survival game. Oblivion and Skyrim are lighthearted, and the freedom to approach the world's conflicts and have a good adventure is just what we want sometimes. But with the inevitable (and totally unconfirmed) Elder Scrolls VI, Bethesda should take note on the ways in which Kingdom Come: Deliverance pushes the open-world RPG forward.
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Since the launch of Fortnite's free-to-play, PUBG-esque Battle Royale mode last year, it's become tremendously popular. If you're among the people playing the PS4 version, you can grab some free cosmetic items right now, provided you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber.
A new PS Plus bonus quietly surfaced on the PlayStation Store today. Dubbed the PlayStation Plus Celebration Pack, it consists of two exclusive items: a glider and an outfit, both of which are pictured below. These are not available for purchase and can only be claimed if you're a PS Plus member. You can grab the pack here.
The pack became available ahead of a recent Fortnite update. It will only be available for a limited time, but you've got much more time to claim it than the typical PS Plus freebie--the offer expires on February 1, 2019. We've reached out to Epic to find out the exact details of this promotion and whether PC or Xbox One players will also have access to these items.
February's standard lineup of free PS Plus games are still available and include PS4 launch game Knack. Meanwhile, if you were subscribed in the past to PS Plus, a new freebie recently became available thanks to the launch of Mercenary Kings' new Reloaded Edition. Additionally, another smaller perk is out now for Gems of War. And finally, the ongoing PSVR game giveaway continues, with the latest being Starblood Arena.
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The Weinstein company is to file for bankruptcy. The embattled production company was left reeling following the accusations of sexual harassment and abuse levelled at co-chairman Harvey Weinstein last year. It has been seeking a purchaser since, but the most recent talks have collapsed.
The company's board of directors have now issued a statement following the failure of negotiations with an investor group. "While we recognize that this is an extremely unfortunate outcome for our employees, our creditors and any victims, the board has no choice but to pursue the only viable option to maximize the company's remaining value: an orderly bankruptcy process," the statement reads.
The LA Times reports that the failed deal was worth around $500 million and would have given the investment consortium control of the company's entire assets. The site states that the company was set to renamed under a new board of directors, "the majority of which would be composed of women." However, talks collapsed when the New York attorney general's office filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Weinstein company, alleging that senior executives failed to prevent the mistreatment of staff by Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein was fired from the company in October, following a series of revelations published in the New York Times that he reportedly paid off sexual harassment accusers. Since then, many more former employees and colleagues have come forward with their own stories about Weinstein's alleged abuse.
One of the biggest names in Hollywood, Weinstein won the Best Picture Oscar for 1999's Shakespeare In Love and also picked up a nomination for 2003's Gangs of New York. Among his other producing credits included films like Pulp Fiction, The Aviator, and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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